Wow. Tough room.
**********
Just after she finished saying that, as her voice was trailing off, I could see inspiration hit her. "...but how do you know? Why are you so certain that those people's lives were worth the risk?"
...that's... a good question. They were criminals, after all. Why did I bother to save them?"...I don't know, either." No, that's not quite right. "Actually, it's more like 'because I don't know'. I don't know that those people's lives were worth the risk, but I know that they're worth something. Every life is.
Every life has value to it... but there's no way of knowing how much." I scoffed- at myself, as much as the concept. "Heck, people's lives change all the time. Murderers repent. Saints give
into temptation. Useless geeks get put in a position to accomplish something meaningful. Who knows what those people will do in the future?"
Cinque gave me a look. I wasn't really sure how to interpret it- I could see some contemplation in there, but the rest was a jumble of emotions. "So your position is that the value of a life is impossible to define, and changes all the time? That, because of this, you should refuse to kill? I'm afraid I don't see how it's relevant to anything."
"Heh. Not quite. It's possible to define the value of any one life... all you have to do is end it." I snorted at that. "But if you do that, it can't get any better. My point is that lives have intrinsic value, but can also change in value. You can't quantify them... so you have to be very careful about how you spend them. Most people are pretty much what you'd expect... but you never know when one will surprise you."
I looked down at my hands, then turned one arm to look at Mal. "I guess I'm lucky. I've never had to end a life."
Cinque slowly looked up at me. She looked at me for a while, seemingly considering something... and then slowly, deliberately pulled me into a hug.
When she let go, after a good thirty seconds or so, it was with a look of utter seriousness. "You will. At some point, you will have to. You know that, don't you?"
...why do I feel the urge to crack a joke? Best keep things serious for now."Of course I do. I'm a combat cyborg now. Fighting is what I do... and everybody who fights has to be prepared to kill or be killed." I met Cinque's gaze, and smirked. "I'm not distorted enough to think I can save everyone, or avoid ever having to take a life. If I can save somebody, though, why not? If I can avoid killing somebody, why not?"
"Heh. Why not, indeed?" Cinque looked back at me; it might just be wishful thinking (when did I start craving external approval?), but I could swear I saw fondness in her expression. "Hold onto that ideal of yours, Imma, as best you can. I suspect it will be sorely tested in these next few months."
As Cinque left, I found myself in a pensive mood. She's right. It's always harder to beat an opponent than it is to just kill them. Sure, barrier jackets can absorb crazy levels of punishment, and I can make any of my shooting spells non-lethal on a whim, but what about elemental spells? What of gravity?
Well, Gaea's Love can be ramped up to 'just strong enough', Fencer's Blade defaults to 'taser' level, and the rest of my elemental spells are anti-drone or anti-fortress anyway. Guess that's not a problem... but what about gravity? What if I knock out somebody while they're flying?
Okay, I'll have to develop a rescue spell- some sort of fire-and-forget feather-fall, maybe. Something for later. For now, I think I need to work on my space-time manipulation. My live test subjects should've arrived by now.With that, I wandered down to the testing rooms.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
**********
Just after she finished saying that, as her voice was trailing off, I could see inspiration hit her. "...but how do you know? Why are you so certain that those people's lives were worth the risk?"
...that's... a good question. They were criminals, after all. Why did I bother to save them?"...I don't know, either." No, that's not quite right. "Actually, it's more like 'because I don't know'. I don't know that those people's lives were worth the risk, but I know that they're worth something. Every life is.
Every life has value to it... but there's no way of knowing how much." I scoffed- at myself, as much as the concept. "Heck, people's lives change all the time. Murderers repent. Saints give
into temptation. Useless geeks get put in a position to accomplish something meaningful. Who knows what those people will do in the future?"
Cinque gave me a look. I wasn't really sure how to interpret it- I could see some contemplation in there, but the rest was a jumble of emotions. "So your position is that the value of a life is impossible to define, and changes all the time? That, because of this, you should refuse to kill? I'm afraid I don't see how it's relevant to anything."
"Heh. Not quite. It's possible to define the value of any one life... all you have to do is end it." I snorted at that. "But if you do that, it can't get any better. My point is that lives have intrinsic value, but can also change in value. You can't quantify them... so you have to be very careful about how you spend them. Most people are pretty much what you'd expect... but you never know when one will surprise you."
I looked down at my hands, then turned one arm to look at Mal. "I guess I'm lucky. I've never had to end a life."
Cinque slowly looked up at me. She looked at me for a while, seemingly considering something... and then slowly, deliberately pulled me into a hug.
When she let go, after a good thirty seconds or so, it was with a look of utter seriousness. "You will. At some point, you will have to. You know that, don't you?"
...why do I feel the urge to crack a joke? Best keep things serious for now."Of course I do. I'm a combat cyborg now. Fighting is what I do... and everybody who fights has to be prepared to kill or be killed." I met Cinque's gaze, and smirked. "I'm not distorted enough to think I can save everyone, or avoid ever having to take a life. If I can save somebody, though, why not? If I can avoid killing somebody, why not?"
"Heh. Why not, indeed?" Cinque looked back at me; it might just be wishful thinking (when did I start craving external approval?), but I could swear I saw fondness in her expression. "Hold onto that ideal of yours, Imma, as best you can. I suspect it will be sorely tested in these next few months."
As Cinque left, I found myself in a pensive mood. She's right. It's always harder to beat an opponent than it is to just kill them. Sure, barrier jackets can absorb crazy levels of punishment, and I can make any of my shooting spells non-lethal on a whim, but what about elemental spells? What of gravity?
Well, Gaea's Love can be ramped up to 'just strong enough', Fencer's Blade defaults to 'taser' level, and the rest of my elemental spells are anti-drone or anti-fortress anyway. Guess that's not a problem... but what about gravity? What if I knock out somebody while they're flying?
Okay, I'll have to develop a rescue spell- some sort of fire-and-forget feather-fall, maybe. Something for later. For now, I think I need to work on my space-time manipulation. My live test subjects should've arrived by now.With that, I wandered down to the testing rooms.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.